It’s easier and less uncomfortable to blame a fictional character for something like this than bad parenting. Calling someone a bad parent doesn’t make any friends. It’s a lazy and dishonest way to stir up trouble.

I wasn’t talking about what the kids said. I was talking about where to look for causes and foolishly buying into the idea that someone doesn’t have problems until they read something. From a lot of news articles, I’ve read that it is generally believed that “Slenderman” inspired the stabbing. That may be true or it might not be, but what brought them to that point? No one ever cares to find the factors that lead up to an incident that could have been prevented. Instead they just attack the venues for which it manifests itself as until there is nothing left. This is a pretty lean case for the subject of misdirected blame however.

My professor was ranting in class today about how the internet has content like this that can just cause a person to snap. Holy fucking cow, what a load.

At least no one is actively seeking out bullshit and are actually listening to the children for indicators of mental illness.